Changing Tack: Cadillac Initiates 2015 CTS Price Cuts

Back in September, new Cadillac boss, Johan de Nysschen, said that prices on the brand’s vehicles would remain steady despite the risk of losing sales to Buick. Apparently, when Johan opened up Cadillac’s 2014 sales report for the US and saw that Cadillac sales had indeed continued to fall off where Buick’s sales only continued to rise, he had second thoughts. The result: Cadillac sent a memo out on Wednesday that told dealers to expect price cuts ranging between $1,000 and $3,000 for most 2015 CTS sedans.

In a conversation that took place on Wednesday afternoon, Cadillac spokesman, David Caldwell, confirmed the price cuts to AutoNews(subscription required).

“We’re taking what we’ve seen are the more desirable optional features for customers and making them more readily available,” Caldwell said. “Once a car has been on the market for a while, it’s not unusual to look at the customer behavior and try to optimize for it.”

Optimization was likely a vital step for the CTS, which saw sales declines of 3.8% for the full year and posted its worst full-year performance for a second straight year.

The price cuts will shave $3,000 off of the price of a Premium Collection 3.6-liter V6 and $2,000 off the 2.0-liter turbo-four model. Neither the base price nor the price of the CTS Vsport will decrease.

Cadillac is also now making the UltraView sunroof, navigation, and improved Bose sound system standard to Luxury models as a means to incentivize buying above base level.

Whether de Nysschen’s backtrack helps Cadillac sales in the New Year will remain to be seen, and we could have some strong indication when January sales are reported at the beginning of February.